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Americans are deciding who will be the next president of the United States, the current head of state, the Republican Donald Trump, or the Democrat Joe Biden.
Webcafe.bg will follow the results LIVE Tuesday night vs. Wednesday night, and we will update you on the highlights of the election night in the United States.
The first results should appear after 2:00 am Bulgarian time, when polling stations close in the first two states, Georgia and North Carolina. After that, the predictions of the big American televisions for the winner of the elections will begin.
However, it is very likely that tonight we will not have a clear winner of the vote and the reason for this is the voting before voting day and by mail, which this year due to the coronavirus is particularly massive.
What are the main things for the two presidential candidates? Learn in our texts about Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
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21:00 – North Carolina election results will be delayed for at least 45 minutes after the local election committee extended the time to vote in several places in the state where there were problems this morning.
The state should start reporting the results at 7.30 pm ET (2:30 BST), but will not be able to publish the results until 8.15 pm (3:15 pm BST).
20:36 – President Donald Trump visited his campaign offices in Arlington, Virginia, where he thanked the volunteers working for his re-election.
The president reiterated his criticism of the Supreme Court ruling allowing the counting of postal ballots received within three days of Pennsylvania Election Day, provided they are mailed before November 3.
Trump claims that “a lot of machinations happen” when votes are counted after Election Day, although there is no evidence of that.
“I think we are going to have a great night,” the president said, adding that his campaign was going “very well” in Florida and Texas.
20:09 – More than 102 million Americans voted nationwide before the polls opened on Election Day, according to a CNN poll.
These votes represent more than 48% of registered voters nationwide. A total of 22 states and Washington, DC have already registered more than 50 percent turnout among all registered voters.
Voting before Election Day rose sharply across the country amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At least seven states, including Texas, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, Arizona, Montana and Oregon, have already surpassed their overall turnout since the last presidential election in 2016.
In seven of the seven states and the capital, the electoral vote represented at least 90% of the total turnout in 2016: Utah, New Mexico, North Carolina, Colorado, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
Nationally, the 102.7 million votes already cast represent 75% of the more than 136.5 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential elections.
18:55 – An article in USA Today claims that amid growing fears of electoral violence, police and experts are closely monitoring the behavior of various extremist groups.
One of the reasons for this is President Donald Trump’s claims that there will be a lot of fraud in the election, calling on an army of supporters to ensure the vote is fair.
Right-wing extremist groups have signaled that they plan to heed this call. For their part, many far-left groups have vowed to confront anyone who tries to threaten voters or the electoral process.
According to the Human Rights Research and Education Institute, which monitors the actions of extremists on social media, many far-right groups are planning actions in key states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These states, along with Georgia and Oregon, have the highest risk of armed militia action, according to a report from MilitiaWatch.
The leader of a far-right group in Georgia said there are “troops” ready to go to the polls if reports of possible election fraud are heard. According to him, there will also be people undercover at the scene to observe what is happening. However, he denied being affiliated with either of the two main parties.
18:29 – Billboards went up around the White House last night. Authorities say no threats have been confirmed so far, but want to take precautions for possible worst-case scenarios that could unfold tonight after the results are announced or in the next few days.
The fence is about 2.4 meters high and 1.2 meters thick. It is made up of separate panels fitted together.
A total of 52 acres around the White House are fenced off. Lafayette Park is also fenced off, as many protests took place in the summer after George Floyd’s death. Authorities are trying to keep people as far away from the White House compound as possible.
14:00 – Electoral colleges were opened in the United States. A total of 230 million Americans have the right to choose who will be the next president of the country.
The first polling stations are expected to close at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time or 2:00 AM Bulgarian time. From there the first preliminary results will begin to appear.
In many parts of the country, queues of people wanting to vote have formed, and people wear protective masks and helmets in droves. Some polling stations have established a special organization, assigning different queues for people with and without protection against the coronavirus.
Hours before Election Day, more than 93 million people have already cast their votes in the preliminary vote. 61 million of them did so by mail. That’s 68% of all voters four years ago.
8:00 – The Bulgarian Embassy in the United States has issued a warning for possible disturbances, which can be expected today in large cities after the announcement of the election results. On its Facebook page, the embassy recommends avoiding places with a large influx of people or those for which there is preliminary information about possible incidents.
“In such a situation, the instructions of the local authorities and the police must be strictly followed. If you need help, you can contact the embassy at phone: (202) 387-5770,” the embassy wrote.
